Tenth of December: Stories

One of the most important and blazingly original writers of his generation, George Saunders is an undisputed master of the short story, and Tenth of December is his most honest, accessible, and moving collection yet. In the taut opener, "Victory Lap", a boy witnesses the attempted abduction of the girl next door and is faced with a harrowing choice: Does he ignore what he sees, or override years of smothering advice from his parents and act? In "Home", a combat-damaged soldier moves back in with his mother and struggles to reconcile the world he left with the one to which he has returned.

What does George Saunders bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I found the narration to be pretty good. With a few exceptions, I like it when authors read their own material. I think he did a good job with pacing and tone.

Was Tenth of December worth the listening time?

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend this book. The first couple of stories are good because they are fresh and new, especially for a first-time Saunders listener. The plots are intriguing and presented in a good way - a key word here, a phrase there - like slowing opening a present by the corners. But it just started getting repetitive. The characters seemed so similar, their situations were different in the details but not that different in the nature of the conflict. The internal conversations of the characters went from interesting and entertaining to repetitive and predictable. A couple of times while I was listening in my car, I found myself talking to the narration saying, "Yes, I get it. Move on!"

Any additional comments?

It seems like a lot of people like this book, so who am I to say. I don't usually write reviews, but wanted to give me thoughts, for what they're worth (probably not much).

The Confessions of Max Tivoli

Max Tivoli is uniquely cursed. His mind ages normally, but he is born with the withered body of a 70-year-old man, and his body ages in reverse. Despite this torment, Max manages three times to cross paths with Alice, the woman who captures his heart. Because he appears to be a different person each time they meet, Max has three chances for true love.

JPod

Ethan Jarlewski and five co-workers whose names start with J are bureaucratically marooned in jPod. jPod is a no-escape architectural limbo on the fringes of a massive Vancouver game design company. The six workers daily confront the forces that define our era: global piracy, boneheaded marketing staff, people smuggling, the rise of China, marijuana grow-ops, Jeff Probst, and the ashes of the 1990s financial tech dream. jPod's universe is amoral and shameless.

I wouldn't say I'm a rabid Coupland fan, but I've enjoyed his works for a number of years, so I have a bit of perspective with regard to his writing. This book was a disappointment. I thoroughly enjoyed Microserfs, and given the comparisons that have been made between that book and this, I was looking forward to the listen.

It just seemed as though he was patting himself on the back the whole time, making references to himself in his own book, as though he is such a strong presence in the social consciousness. It reminded me of the really cheesy scene in Ocean's Twelve where Julia Roberts dressed up as 'herself' to help out with the heist. It's just not effective and comes off a bit smarmy.

And his way of writing random pages of words/characters/phrases in his books, which I don't mind, doesn't come across effectively in the audio version.

I'm giving it 3-stars because it did have a few redeeming qualities and comical aspects to the characters, but definitely not his best effort.

Start Late, Finish Rich: A No-Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom at Any Age

Start Late, Finish Rich applies David Bach's financial wisdom to all those who forgot to save (or just plain procrastinated) and are worried that it is too late to achieve financial freedom. For those who worry that they'll never be able to retire on their current savings, hope and help have arrived. David's message is that it is never too late to finish rich.

This is a good book, with some solid ideas. The detail with which he explains his theories is both good and bad. For one thing, in the printed version, there are a lot of charts, so in the audiobook the narrator reads off all the repetitive stats from the charts in a very long, monotonous way. In the text version, you would just glance at the chart, get the gist, and move on...in the audiobook, you have to listen to it for over 5 minutes sometimes. A little annoying, because you get the concept after the first few examples, then have to listen to him drone on through the whole chart.

Also, a lot of the advice relates directly to Americans only. I am Canadian, and though I found the general theories sound, the specific advice (401k, etc) was not as helpful.

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Journey Into the Heart of Fan Mania

Warren St. John decided to find out why people care so much about the outcomes of games they're not playing in by joining a group where the particulars of the fan psyche would show themselves in sharp relief: the caravan of hundreds of RVs that follow the Alabama Crimson Tide across the South, taking over college towns with a moveable feast of Weber grills, karaoke machines, Igloo coolers, and fast-draining liquor bottles.

I don't watch a lot of sports, and especially not football, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This book is laid out as a documentary in which the author spends a season following the fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. It is very well-written. The author does a fantastic job of painting the picture in your mind. The narrator does a brilliant job of bringing it to life, with good inflection and a talent for replicating deep southern accents.

Despite what the Publisher's Review says, this book is only sprinkled superficially with anthopological and psychological analyses of fan-mania. Those looking for an in-depth study will want to look elsewhere, but there's enough insight to give die-hard fans some pause to reflect on their behavioural habits.

4-Stars because it was very enjoyable. Not 5-stars, as those are reserved for classic must-reads, which this is not.

My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy

Nancy Cartwright is the ultimate Simpsons insider. Her raspy, childlike voice is immediately recognizable as none other than Bart Simpson, the most precocious, irreverent, and intriguing 10-year-old ever to enter the American consciousness.

I'm a pretty big Simpson's fan, and as soon as I saw this audiobook, I bought it.

In a word...disappointing. While she does a great job as Bart, Nancy Cartwright is no literary wordsmith. The whole audiobook has the feel of a highschool public speaking presentation. Her narrative voice is unique and somewhat charming for the first 30min, then it sort of grates on the mind. ie. "The B-Sharps"

With some reasonable "behind-the-scenes" content, I might recommend borrowing the hardcopy version from the library (which would eliminate the voice issue). If it were a movie I saw at the theatre, I'd say wait for the video and rent it. If you're a member, and are at a loss for something to order before your Renewal Date hits, order it with no high expectations. If you're not a member, save your money and go to the library.

PS. I just finished Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer. If you're looking for an entertaining, well-written audiobook with a great narrator, check it out.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

In A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson takes his ultimate journey - into the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer. It's a dazzling quest, as this insatiably curious writer attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization.

Enjoyed the listen. Skillfully combined details with easily understandable language, and an ample measure of ironic quips thrown in. The only downside...there's nothing in it you'd care to discuss with anyone else, ie. friends, family or co-workers, unless you're an anthropologist or geologist, in which case you'd be familiar with all the content anyways. Regardless, worth the download.

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